Records, 1856-1907, of James M. Bayles &Son. Includes records for over 50 ships built by the firm. The majority consists of building contracts, but also includes bills of sale, notes on certain vessels, insurance policies, and letters between the firm and their customers. These records compliment items in the Ship's Plans and General Collection.

James Madison Bayles established James M. Bayles & Son in Port Jefferson, New York in 1835. Bayles son, James Elbert Bayles, joined his father at the shipyard in 1863. Three generations of the Bayles family built over 140 wooden ships between its opening and when the yard was sold in 1917. The firm built all types of vessels including cargo ships, whaling ships, and luxury yachts as well as repair and overhauling work.

This collection was largely organized based on the types of documents it contained. The building contracts make up most of the records and were therefore all kept together and put in chronological order. Other records were then grouped together separately and put in chronological order as well. The records of James M. Bayles & Son are arranged by series as described below.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the G. W. Blunt White Library. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.